The microfungal flora of field soils irrigated by the South-eastern Anatolia Project (GAP: Güneydo¤u Anadolu Projesi) in Harran Plain were investigated in terms of quality and quantity, using the soil dilution plate and soil washing methods. A total of 1690 microfungi were isolated from 105 soil samples.
Turk J Bot 27 (2003) 83-92 © TÜB‹TAK Research Article Isolation and Identification of Soilborne Fungi in Fields Irrigated by GAP in Harran Plain Using Two Isolation Methods Ayfle Dilek AZAZ Bal›kesir University, Faculty of Science and Arts, Department of Biology, Bal›kesir - TURKEY Received: 21.02.2001 Accepted: 23.09.2002 Abstract: The microfungal flora of field soils irrigated by the South-eastern Anatolia Project (GAP: GỹneydoÔu Anadolu Projesi) in Harran Plain were investigated in terms of quality and quantity, using the soil dilution plate and soil washing methods A total of 1690 microfungi were isolated from 105 soil samples With the identification of these isolates, 109 species plus 16 different sterile fungi were identified Sixty-two of these taxa were isolated through the soil dilution plate method, seven through the soil washing method, and 40 through both methods The results indicate that ten of these species belong to Mucorales, four to Sphaeriales, one to Coelomycetes and 94 to Hyphomycetes The most widespread genera were Penicillium Link ex Gray (24 species), Aspergillus Mich ex Fr (20 species), and Acremonium Link ex Fr with the soil dilution plate method The most common species were Aspergillus niger Tiegh (284 colonies), Penicillium lanosum Westling (238 colonies), Penicillium canescens Sopp (170 colonies), Penicillium brevicompactum Dierckx (174 colonies) and Penicillium clavigerum Demelius (146 colonies) The results obtained from the soil dilution plate method show that fresh soil bulk equivalent to g of oven-dried soil contains on average 72 487 propagules Key Words: Hyphomycetes, Microfungi, Soil Harran Ovas› GAP Sulama Alan ỗerisinde Kalan ve Sulamaya Alnan Tarla Toprak Funguslarnn ki Metod Kullan›larak ‹zolasyon ve ‹dentifikasyonu Özet: Harran Ovas› GAP sulama alan iỗerisinde kalan ve sulamaya alnan tarla topraklarndan alnan 105 toprak ửrneÔinin TopraÔ Sulandrma ve TopraÔ Ykama metodlaryla kalitatif ve kantitatif olarak incelenmesi sonucu toplam 1690 mikrofungus izolat› elde edilmifltir Bu izolatlar›n teflhislerinin yap›lmas› sonucu 109 tür ayr›ca 16 farkl› steril mikrofungus elde edilmifltir Bu taksonlarn 62 tanesi TopraÔ Sulandrma, tanesi TopraÔ Ykama, 40 tanesi ise her iki metodla da elde edilmifltir Bunlardan 10 tanesi Mucorales, tanesi Sphaeriales, tanesi Coelomycetes ve 94 tanesi Hyphomycetes tak›mlar›na aittir Elde edilen cinsler arasnda TopraÔ Sulandrma metoduna gửre en yaygn cinsler s›ras›yla Penicillium Link ex Gray (24 tür), Aspergillus Mich ex Fr (20 tür) ve Acremonium Link ex Fr (9 tür)’dur En yayg›n türler ise Aspergillus niger Tiegh (284 koloni), Penicillium lanosum Westling (238 koloni), Penicillium canescens Sopp (170 koloni), Penicillium brevicompactum Dierckx (174 koloni) ve Penicillium clavigerum Demelius (146 koloni)’dur TopraÔ Sulandrma metoduna gửre g frn kuru topraÔa karfllk gelen taze toprakta ortalama 72487 birim mikrofungus bulunmufltur Anahtar Sözcükler: Hyphomycetes, Mikrofungus, Toprak Introduction GAP (GỹneydoÔu Anadolu Projesi) investigations are carried out to enhance the productivity of field soils in South-east Anatolia within the scope of the project involving irrigation and energy production As dry farming used to be carried out in south-east Anatolia, it is expected to observe changes in the activity of soil microorganism as a result of the newly initiated farming using irrigation The insufficient amount of total rainfall per year before irrigation used to reduce and limit the ecological activity of micro-organisms in the field soils This investigation was undertaken to determine the ecological changes resulting from irrigation Studies on soil mycology in Turkey have primarily been concentrated on North-eastern Anatolia (HasenekoÔlu, 1982; HasenekoÔlu & Azaz, 1991; HasenekoÔlu & Sỹlỹn, 1991; Sỹlỹn & HasenekoÔlu, 1993), the vicinity of zmir (Ekmekỗi, 1974 a and b; 1975; Asan & Ekmekỗi, 1994; ệner, 1974) and Thrace (European Turkey) (Asan, 1997 a and b) 83 Isolation and Identification of Soilborne Fungi in Fields Irrigated by GAP in Harran Plain Using Two Isolation Methods Description of research area The study area is located at 37°10‘N, 36°41‘N and 38°41‘E, 39°10‘E The investigation covers 89 farmland sites in the south and south-east parts of fianl›urfa, the first to be irrigated The stations were selected on maps of 1/200,000 scale created by the 19th District Directorate of Rural Affairs, and 1/50,000 scale created by the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (D.S.‹.) The sample sites were chosen randomly and marked on maps (Figure 1) Prior to irrigation, wheat (Triticum sativum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) and other such plants were grown in the area Since the start of irrigation, crops such as cotton (Gossypium L spp.), sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Miller) have been grown in the area Materials and Methods In the collected samples, first a soil profile was extracted and then the surface of the profile was cleaned Vertical samples were taken from 10 cm depths with a disinfected spatula The spatula was applied perpendicular to the vertical surface of the profile The samples were stored in a large sterilized cooled thermos bottle until they reached the laboratory The samples were processed in an isolation process using the soil dilution plate (Waksman, 1922) and soil washing methods (Gams et al., 1987) in the laboratory The moisture content of a certain amount of soil was determined and fresh soil quantities corresponding to 25 g of oven-dried soil were calculated (Öner, 1973) Then 1/10,000 dilutions of the samples were prepared (Warcup, 1955) Before the settling of organic matter and soil particles (Phara & Kommedahl, 1954), mL of the dilutions was applied to prepared Peptone Dextrose Agar Plates were then inoculated with each sample (Gams et al., 1987) and incubated at 25 °C for 10 d In order to suppress bacterial growth, 30 mg/L of streptomycin was added and to restrict the colonial growth 30 mg/L of rose bengal was added to the isolation medium (Martin, 1950) Twenty grams of fresh soil was placed in a glass funnel lined with muslin (pore size 0.5 mm) for isolation using the soil washing technique The soil samples were first washed with L of tap water and the outflow was 84 collected in a funnel The procedure was then repeated using L of sterile water After this treatment, the muslin and its contents were transferred into a sterile petri dish with the same water containing streptomycin Organic particles floating on the surface of the water and the washed soil particles were picked up with a loop and forceps and transferred onto plates of Peptone Dextrose Agar with rose bengal The plates were incubated at 25 °C for 10 d (Gams et al., 1987) The colonies were counted and identified using the soil dilution plate method The counting and identification procedure was carried out under a stereomicroscope Then the identified colonies were transferred to petri dishes containing agar In the petri dishes, different types of colonies developed around the soil, and organic particles were isolated using the soil washing technique For identification purposes, the genera Aspergillus Mich ex Fr and Penicillium Link ex Gray were plated on Czapex Dox Agar and Malt-Extract and the others on MaltExtract Agar For the identification of the isolates, Smith (1971) was followed Identification of the taxa were carried out according to HasenekoÔlu (1991), Subramanian (1983), Ellis (1971), Gerlach & Nirenberg (1982), Raper & Thom (1949), Raper & Fennell (1965), Zycha et al (1969), Samson & Pitt (1985), and Samson & Pitt (2000) Citation of the names of authors presented is standardized according to the Authors of Fungal Names (Kirk & Ansell, 1992) The reason for using the soil dilution plate method was to isolate the propagules of microfungi occurring inactively in the soil, whereas the reason for using the soil washing technique was to isolate active microfungus hypha Results A total of 1690 isolates were obtained from the analyses of 105 soil samples taken from the area in August 1997 through soil dilution plate and soil washing methods to determine the microfungi flora of field soils irrigated in Harran Plain in fianl›urfa within the GAP irrigated area The identification of these isolates resulted in 109 species and varieties plus 16 sterile microfungi Among the identified species, ten of these belonged to Mucorales, four to Sphaeriales, one to Coelomycetes, and 94 to Hyphomycetes (Tables and 2) Sixty-one of the taxa were isolated with the soil dilution plate technique, UÇ Figure R SU HLVAN Gỹỗlỹ Kửsekửy Gỹzelkửy Yarmsu ầAMLIDERE Ưncal AKÇAKALE Balatlar Gülveren Ar›can Zorlu Seferkưy Yeflerti ‹kizce The Soil Collection Stations in the Study Area Salihler Tatl›ca Sevimli Aỗkkuyu Ekinyaz Meydankap Ulucanlar Baflửren UÔurlu Karaali YARDIMCI Ovabeyli Gửzelek Vergili Turlak Tafll›ca Görenler Bak›fllar Yediyol Selman Duruca Olgunlar Akdilek Ozanlar Hacapara ệzlỹ Eskiharman Baykufl Yolgider Minare Dibek Tozluca Doruỗ BuÔdaytepeTekneli ầaybafl Koruklu Karatepe Afl.Yarmca Krmtl Tantana Klỗl Balkat Bozyaz fiEHTNUSRETBEY HARRAN Yu.BeÔdefl Toytepe UluaÔaỗ ệncỹler Ortaửren ầatalhurma Varkalan Gửrelen Cepkenli Afl.BeÔdefl Haceliber Kửplỹce Sugeldi Aỗmal Ksas ầekỗek Gỹlveren Gỹnbal kiaÔz Korucak Mamuca ầamurlu Mutluca Kỹtỹnce Havflanl Sultantepe SaÔlk HancaÔz Akỗamescit Yenice Boydere fiANLIURFA Akdiken Gửktafl VRANfiEHR SYRIA Yalntafl Gửzcỹ 10 12 km N ‹STANBUL ANKARA CEYLANPINAR DEVLET TARIM ‹fiLETMES‹ National Boundary Highway District Centre Province Centre Search Area LEGEND A D AZAZ 85 Isolation and Identification of Soilborne Fungi in Fields Irrigated by GAP in Harran Plain Using Two Isolation Methods Table The colony and isolate numbers of genera, their ratio to total number and comparison of the two methods Soil Dilution Plate Method MUCORALES Absidia Tiegh Circinella Tiegh & F.Monnier Cuninghamella Matr Mucor Michx ex Fr Rhizopus Ehrenb SPHAERIALES Chaetomium Kunze ex Fr COELOMYCETES Phoma (Fries.) Desm HYPHOMYCETES Acremonium Link ex Fr Alternaria Nees ex Fr Aspergillus Mich ex Fr Beauveria Vuill Botryotrichum Sacc & Marchal Botrytis Mich ex Fr Cladosporium Link ex Fr.; Link Dicyma Boulanger Drechslera Ito Embellisia E.G.Simmons Fusarium Link ex Fr Geomyces Traaen Gliocladium Corda Gliomastix Gueguen Harzia Costantin Humicola Traaen Melanopsamma Niessl Myrothecium Tode ex Fr Paecilomyces Bainier Penicillium Link ex Gray Scolecobasidium E.V.Abbott Scopulariopsis Bainier Stachybotrys Corda Trichoderma Pers ex Fr Trichothecium Link ex Gray Ulocladium Preuss Verticillium Nees ex Link Sterile Sterile Sterile Sterile Sterile Sterile Sterile Sterile Sterile Sterile 10 Sterile 11 Sterile 12 Sterile 13 Sterile 14 Sterile 15 Sterile 16 86 Soil Washing Method Colony Number Ratio to total Number (%) ‹solate Number Ratio to Total Number 16 15 136 0.431 0.404 3.671 11 38 - 1.081 0.270 2.972 10.270 - 38 1.025 0.540 0.080 - - 275 770 76 21 35 92 36 19 29 74 72 1464 102 55 88 47 10 45 32 13 4 30 26 7.424 0.188 20.788 2.051 0.566 0.944 0.080 0.053 0.161 0.215 0.188 2.483 0.971 0.026 0.512 0.782 1.997 1.943 39.524 0.188 2.753 0.161 0.026 1.484 2.375 1.268 0.269 1.214 0.863 0.350 0.080 0.053 0.161 0.107 0.107 0.188 0.080 0.809 0.215 0.701 63 45 17 80 1 12 1 28 22 17.027 12.162 0.270 0.540 1.621 0.540 0.810 4.594 21.621 0.270 0.270 0.270 0.540 1.081 0.540 0.810 0.540 2.432 3.243 0.540 0.270 0.270 7.567 0.810 0.270 5.945 A D AZAZ Table The colony and isolate numbers of the taxa and their ratios to their own genera, to the total colony number and to the isolate number, and comparison of the two methods Soil Dilution Plate Method Soil Washing Method Colony Ratio to Ratio to Isolate Ratio to Ratio to Number Own genus Total Number Number Own genus Total Number (%) (%) (%) (%) 100 0.431 25 0.270 MUCORALES Absidia cylindrospora Hagem 16 A cylindrospora var rhizomorpha Hesselt & J.J.Ellis - - - 75 0.810 Circinella rigida A.H.Sm - - - 100 0.270 15 100 0.404 54.545 1.621 - - - 45.454 1.351 (Hagem) Schipper - - - 10 26.315 2.702 M hiemalis Wehmer f hiemalis - - - 16 42.105 4.324 M hiemalis f luteus Schipper - - - 12 31.578 3.243 Cunninghamella echinulata Thaxt C elegans Lendner Mucor circinelloides van Tiegh f griseo-cyanus Rhizopus oryzae Went & Prins Geerl 103 75.735 2.780 - - - R stolonifer (Ehrenb Fr.) Vuill var stolonifer 33 24.264 0.890 - - - Arx 21.052 0.215 - - - C raii G Malhotra & Mukerji 12 31.578 0.323 100 0.540 Chaetomium sp.1 12 31.578 0.323 - - - Chaetomium sp.2 15.789 0.161 - - - 100 0,080 - - - 10 3.636 0.269 4.761 0.810 SPHAERIALES Chaetomium muelleri COELOMYCETES Phoma (Fries) Desm.sp.1 HYPHOMYCETES Acremonium butyri Beyma W Gams A furcatum F & V Moreau ex W.Gams 1.090 0.080 - - - A strictum W.Gams 144 52.363 3.887 26 41.269 7.027 Acremonium sp.1 20 7.272 0.539 - - - Acremonium sp.2 21 7.636 0.566 12 19.047 3.243 Acremonium sp.3 1.818 0.134 10 15.873 2.702 Acremonium sp.4 34 12.363 0.917 4.761 0.810 Acremonium sp.5 16 5.818 0.431 7.936 1.351 Acremonium sp.6 22 8.00 0.593 6.349 1.081 Alternaria alternata Keissl 100 0.188 - - - Thom & Church 34 4.415 0.917 2.222 0.270 A allahabadii B.S Mehrotra & Agnihotri 10 1.298 0.269 - - - A candidus Link 10 1.298 0.269 - - - A carneus Blochwitz 46 5.974 1.241 4.444 0.540 Aspergillus alliaceus A equitis Samson &W Gams 15 1.948 0.404 - - - A ficuum (Reichardt) Henn 22 2.857 0.593 17.777 2.162 87 Isolation and Identification of Soilborne Fungi in Fields Irrigated by GAP in Harran Plain Using Two Isolation Methods Table (Continued) A flavus Link 39 5.064 1.052 6.666 0.810 A fumigatus Fresen 19 2.467 0.512 - - - A heteromorphus Bat & H.Maia 14 1.818 0.377 - - - A niger Tiegh 284 36.883 7.667 21 46.666 5.675 A ornatulus Samson & W.Gams 0.909 0.188 11.111 1.351 A oryzae (Ahlb.) Chon 0.259 0.053 - - - A phoenicis (Corda) Thom 0.779 0.161 6.666 0.810 G.A.Huber 93 12.077 2.510 - - - A terreus Thom 35 4.545 0.944 - - - A terricola var americanus Marchal in Thom & Church 12 1.558 0.323 4.444 0.540 A tubingensis (Schöber) Mosseray 1.168 0.242 - - - A ustus (Bainier) Thom & Church 34 4.415 0.917 - - - A versicolor (Vuill.) Tirab 64 8.311 1.727 - - - A wentii Wehmer 15 1.948 0.404 - - - Beauveria alba (Limber) Saccas 12 15.789 0.323 - - - B bassiana Vuill 48 63.157 1.295 100 0.270 B brongniartii (Sacc.) Petch 16 21.052 0.431 - - - Botrytis cinerea Pers & Nocca & Balb 21 100 0.566 - - - - - - 100 0.540 Cladosporium cladosporioides (Fresen.) G.A.Vries 20 57.142 0.539 - - - C herbarum (Pers) Link ex Gray 13 37.142 0.350 - - - C sphaerospermum Penz 5.714 0.053 - - - Dicyma sp.1 100 0.080 - - - 100 0.053 - - - 100 0.161 - - - Emend.Snyd Hans 37.5 0.080 - - - Fusarium sp.1 37.5 0.080 - - - Fusarium sp.2 25.00 0.053 - - - 100 0.188 100 1.621 24 66.666 0.647 100 0.540 C.H Dickinson 12 33.333 0.323 - - - Gliocladium catenulatum J.C.Gilman & Abbott 62 67.391 1.673 - - - G roseum Bain 6.521 0.161 - - - 24 26.086 0.647 - - - A sclerotiorum Botryotrichum sp.1 Drechslera australiensis (Bugnic.) Subram & Jain ex M.B.Ellis Embellisia chlamydospora (Hoes, Bruehl & Show) Simmons Fusarium solani (Matr.) Appel & Wollenw Geomyces pannorum Sigler & J.W.Carmich var pannorum Oorschot Gliomastix murorum Corda var felina (Marchal) G.C.Hughes G musicola G solani (Harting) Petch Harzia sp.1 100 0.026 - - Humicola fuscoatra Traaen var fuscuatra 5.263 0.026 - - - H grisea Traaen var grisea 18 94.736 0.485 100 0.810 Melanopsamma pomiformis Niessl 29 100 0.782 - - - 88 A D AZAZ Table (Continued) Myrothecium roridum Tode ex Fr 74 100 1.997 - - - (Duché & R.Heim) Brown & Smith 2.777 0.053 - - - P farinosus Holm ex S.F.Gray 12.5 0.242 - - - P lilacinus (Thom) Samson 55 76.388 1.484 17 100 4.594 Paecilomyces carneus P variotii Bainier 8.333 0.161 - - - P brevicompactum Dierckx 174 11.684 4.696 13 15 3.242 P canescens Sopp 170 11.611 4.588 13 16.25 3.594 Penicillium charlesii G.Sm 12 0.819 0.323 - - - P chermesinum Biourge 0.409 0.161 2.5 0.540 P chrysogenum Thom 83 5.669 2.240 2.5 0.540 P citrinum Thom 15 1.024 0.404 2.5 0.540 P claviforme Bain P clavigerum Demelius 0.409 0.161 - - - 146 9.972 3.941 - - - 0.273 0.107 - - - P decumbens Thom P diversum Raper & Fennell 107 7.308 2.888 - - - P expansum Link 46 3.142 1.241 10.00 2.162 P herquei Bainier & Sartory 17 1.161 0.498 - - - P italicum Wehmer var italicum Samson, Stolk & Hadlok 113 7.718 3.050 11.25 2.432 P janthinellum Biourge 78 5.327 2.105 6.25 1.351 P jenseni W.Zalessky 45 3.073 1.214 12 15.00 3.243 P lanosum Westling 238 16.256 6.425 3.75 0.810 P madriti G.Sm 0.614 0.242 - - - P multicolor Grig Man & Porad 68 4.644 1.835 3.75 0.810 P olsonii Bain & Sartory 20 1.366 0.539 - - - P roqueforti Thom 12 0.819 0.323 - - 1.081 P simplicissimum (Oudem.)Thom 0.273 0.107 5.00 P steckii W.Zalessky 14 0.956 0.377 - - - P variabile Sopp 13 0.887 0.350 - - - P verrucosum var cyclopium (Westling) Samson, 64 4.371 1.727 6.25 1.351 Scolecobasidium constrictum Abbott Stolk & Hadlok - - - 100 0.270 Scopulariopsis brumptii Salv.-Duval 100 0.188 - - 0.270 Stachybotrys microspora (Mathur et Sankhla) Jong et Davis 95 93.137 2.564 100 S parvispora S.Hughes 6.862 0.188 - - - Trichoderma harzianum Rifai 33.333 0.053 100 0.270 T pseudokoningii Rifai 66.666 0.161 - - - Trichothecium roseum (Pers.)Link ex Gray 16.666 0.0269 - - - Ulocladium atrum Preuss 52 94.545 1.403 100 0.540 U tuberculatum E.G.Simmons 5.454 0.080 - - - Verticillium dahliae Kleb 5.681 0.134 - - - V lecanii (Zimm.) Viégas 83 94.318 2.240 100 1.081 89 Isolation and Identification of Soilborne Fungi in Fields Irrigated by GAP in Harran Plain Using Two Isolation Methods eight with the soil washing technique and 40 with both methods The number of colonies obtained by the soil dilution plate method was 3704, and 370 were isolated using the soil washing technique The genera with the greatest number of species were Penicillium (24 species), Aspergillus (20 species), Acremonium Link ex Gray (nine species) in the soil plate method The most widely distributed and abundant colony forming taxa in the soil plate method were Penicillium (1464 colonies), Aspergillus (770 colonies), Acremonium (275 colonies), Rhizopus Ehrenb (136 colonies) and Stachybotrys Corda (102 colonies) With the soil dilution plate technique, the richest genera in terms of the number of species were Penicillium and Aspergillus, and the most common ones in these two were Aspergillus niger Tiegh (284 colonies), Penicillium lanosum Westling (238 colonies), P canescens Sopp (161 colonies), P brevicompactum Dierckx (160 colonies) and P clavigerum Demelius (146 colonies) (Tables and 2) The most common taxa obtained from the soil washing technique were Sterile 12 (28 isolates), Acremonium strictum W.Gams (26 isolates), Aspergillus niger (21 isolates), Paecilomyces lilacinus (Thom) Samson (17 isolates), Mucor hiemalis Wehmer f hiemalis (16 isolates), Penicillium canescens (13 isolates), P jensenii W Zalessky (12 isolates) and Sterile (12 isolates) (Tables and 2) An average of 72,487 propagules of microfungi were calculated in fresh soil equivalent to g of oven-dried soil Discussion One hundred and nine different species and strains and also 16 different sterile microfungi were obtained as a result of the analysis with the soil dilution plate and soil washing methods of 105 soil samples taken from 89 farmland sites within the area of GAP irrigation Fresh soil equivalent to g of oven-dried soil contained an average of 72,487 propagules of microfungi using the soil dilution plate method For some isolations, the soil washing method was used In this method, fungus propagules are removed from the soil by a washing procedure Sixty-one different taxa assumed to be actively present in the soil were isolated 90 Azaz & HasenekoÔlu (1997) isolated a total of 3102 microfungi from 203 soil samples prior to irrigation in the same area; they used the same methods as presented in this paper The identification of these isolates resulted in 133 discrete species and strains and an additional 23 sterile microfungi The richest genera in terms of the number species were Aspergillus (25 species), Penicillium (22 species), Acremonium (seven species) and Fusarium (six species) Although Aspergillus has the largest number of species, Penicillium has the most abundant colony formation in taxa On the other hand, Penicillium comes first in terms of the numbers of species and colony formation, but Aspergillus is in second place in both cases Quantitatively it was determined that there was an increase in microfungus propagules in g of oven-dried soils equivalent to fresh soil microfungi after irrigation Azaz & HasenekoÔlu (1998) conducted an investigation on the field soils and uncultivated soils in Harran Plain in the GAP irrigation area They obtained 2676 isolates from 124 soil samples with the same methods described in their paper After the identification of these isolates they reported 100 discrete species and strains and 15 sterile microfungi They found approximately 46,326 propagules of microfungi in g of oven-dried soil equivalent to fresh soil using the soil dilution plate method Also according to this method, genera with the richest species were Penicillium (27 species), Aspergillus (24 species) and Acremonium (six species) These results correspond to the investigation carried out after irrigation HasenekoÔlu (1985) performed quantitative analysis of the microfungi flora of forest, grass and field soils in the vicinity of Sar›kam›fl He reported that the genus Penicillium is the most common in terms of species and intensity in his research Asan (1992) studied the flora of Penicillium and Aspergillus in different habitat soils in Edirne He found 23 species and two varieties belonging to Aspergillus and 16 species belonging to Penicillium Sỹlỹn & HasenekoÔlu (1993) researched the flora of Penicillium and Aspergillus in North-east Anatolia In their research they found 20 species of Aspergillus and 22 of Penicillium The results of these studies performed in different regions of Turkey are in accordance with those of our A D AZAZ paper, which proves that the genus Penicillium is the most common in soil ‹smail & Abdullah (1977) conducted research on the soil of Iraq where climatic and edaphic factors are very similar to those of our research field They obtained an average of 31,425 microfungus propagules in g of oven-dried soil from four different soil samples in their research They reported that there were 5000 and 4700 microfungus propagules in the samples of soils with a water holding capacity of 38% and 21.7% and 66,000 and 50,000 in samples of soils with a water-holding capacity of 48% and 44%, respectively Therefore, the numbers of microfungi in each sample are different from each other The water-holding capacity of the soils in the fields investigated here varies between 35% and 62% The average capacity is about 40% (Tüzüner et al., 1990) The results obtained from the soil dilution plate method show that a bulk of fresh soil equivalent to g of oven-dried soil contains on average 72,487 microfungus propagules An acceptable number of microfungi in g of fertile land soil is around 400,000 (HasenekoÔlu, 1979) It can be argued that the field lands of this investigation were poor in quantity In conclusion, there is a quantitative improvement in the field lands as compared to previous investigations However, there is no significant improvement in the diversity of species 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Williams and Wilkins Company 685p 91 Isolation and Identification of Soilborne Fungi in Fields Irrigated by GAP in Harran Plain Using Two Isolation Methods Raper KB & Thom C (1949) A Manual of the... 0.593 17.777 2.162 87 Isolation and Identification of Soilborne Fungi in Fields Irrigated by GAP in Harran Plain Using Two Isolation Methods Table (Continued) A flavus Link 39 5.064 1.052 6.666